.HIV Reluctantly Up For Auction
The .hiv new gTLD is to be put up for auction with a reserve price of $200,000. The decision, made reluctantly, has ultimately come about due to the gTLD not gaining the registrations anticipated at launch. Registrations since though have been doing a better job at meeting projections.
The .hiv registry operator is hoping that another registry operator, probably one that operates multiple strings, will be able to take over its operations and run them on a more cost effective basis.
It’s not all doom and gloom. Registrations earn the registry $179 each, which is generally four to ten times that of other gTLDs. The gTLD also has a high rate of use with only 33 percent of .hiv domains Parked, compared to around an average of 60 percent for other new gTLDs.
The gTLD raises money through an innovative micro-giving system, to help generate web traffic through visible social responsibility. This approach and its social mission has brought the gTLD universal support within the communities engaged in the fight against AIDS and 400+ clients, with pioneer users including global brands like Hyundai, TED, WIRED and Paulaner.
“We have always run our organisation with one vision in mind: we want the .hiv TLD to spark a global movement for the end of AIDS”, says Carolin Silbernagl, Co-Founder and CEO of the dotHIV Registry in a statement on the Innovative Auctions site. “In the eight months since our launch we have gained a lot of insight about what it needs to reach this. The reason why we are offering .hiv for sale is because we see how successful it can be. However, we realised that dotHIV is not the right vehicle for the next phase – the TLD needs a bigger and more international home to truly spread its wings.”
As of 31 March the gTLD had 410 registrations (currently this has increased to 441) of which 345 are fully paid and 63 were given away free to HIV charities. And seven months into General Availability, the registry was able to generate a net income of $83,000 from the sale of domain names. Of these 85% were handed over to the registry’s own charity, where it waits for domain visitors to send it to HIV-related projects, 1ยข for each click on a .hiv domain.
The TLD will be sold through a simultaneous ascending clock auction, facilitated by Innovative Auctions Limited, the facilitator of the Applicant Auction for resolving contention for the new gTLDs. The auction format will be similar to the Applicant Auction. .hiv has a reserve price of $200,000 and the auction will be held on 3 to 4 June, 2015.
written by David Goldstein
